After Major Quake Near Indonesia, First Tsunami Is Relatively Small

Acehnese women hug each other shortly after the powerful earthquake hit the western coast of Sumatra in Banda Aceh.

Chaideer MahyhuddinAFP/Getty Images

Originally published on April 11, 2012 7:04 am

A powerful, 8.6-magnitude earthquake and an 8.2-magnitude aftershock off the west coast of Northern Sumatra today led authorities to warn that potentially devastating tsunamis might roar across the Indian Ocean.

But to the relief of millions who were immediately reminded of the devastating tsunami that rolled across that ocean in 2004, the waves generated by today's temblors were minor and the tsunami "watch" was canceled just before 9 a.m. ET.

The other welcome news: Initial reports indicated that damage from the quakes themselves may not have been extensive.

We began this post at 7 a.m. ET and added some updates soon after. Scroll down to see how the story developed.

-- Reuters reports that the first tsunami generated by the temblor is headed for Indonesia's Aceh province, but at this point measures just under 7 inches in height. "It doesn't look like a major tsunami," Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, tells Reuters. "But we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves."

-- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters earlier that "thanks God, from what I heard there is neither casualties reported nor major damage in Banda Aceh or other places."

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the first earthquake happened at 4:38 a.m. ET this morning, or 2:38 p.m. Thursday local time, and was centered about 14 miles deep off the west coast of Northern Sumatra — 270 miles southwest of Banda Aceh.

It led the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue an "Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch" covering a vast area that includes coastlines of Indonesia, Australia, India, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa and regions in between.

The quake and tsunami warning immediately brought to mind, of course, the devastating 9.1-magnitude temblor and tsunami that struck the area on Dec. 26, 2004. The massive wave generated by that earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 people.

According to the BBC, today's earthquake was " felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. 'There was a tremor felt by all of us working in the building,' a man called Vincent in Calcutta, India, told the BBC. 'All just ran out of the building and people were asked not to use the elevator. There was a minute of chaos where all started ringing up to their family and asking about their well-being.' "

NPR's Anthony Kuhn, reporting from Jakarta, tells our Newscast Desk that "residents poured out of their houses and headed for high ground" in the areas nearest the quake.